The literary anthology as a tool of literary history

The study of a selection of literary anthologies, used over the last one hundred years in Quebec shows the emergence of a core of literary texts, the exact composition of which has varied across the decades as definitions of the literary corpus of francophone Canada have shifted, following changes in policy, population, and dominant ideology (from catholic to secular). The chapter begins with a survey of literary textbook production in Quebec from its beginnings in the 1830s to the present day, mapping the slow process of ‘Canadianization’ of textbooks in Quebec, in terms of authorship, production and content. It then analyses the presence of francophone Canadian literature within literary anthologies, the means by which francophone Canadian pupils would have been familiarized with the emerging literary canon. In the final section of the chapter the analysis focuses on the representation of First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultures within the corpus.